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It’s hard to tell in this image, but this sculpture of Confucius is way bigger than a human being, demanding the viewer to look up and be shrunk in comparison. There’s something of this image that strikes me–partially because of his benign expression, he truly comes off as Buddah-like. Also all of the trappings that would have marked him from a bygone era are stripped away making him look almost shockingly modern. He really wouldn’t look out of place in modern society.

The sculpture really creates a sense of humility and joy just by being in its presence–a great benevolent personality looking at us like we are mildly amusing, but also gently. And oh how human he looks, you can see the creases of his ears and his flesh seems palpable. It’s a far cry from the stone images of religious figures we normally get.

What’s brilliant here is that Confucius becomes his own symbol–he was never about reaching Nirvana, or getting beyond life–he was about a well ordered society and a well ordered life, nothing more. Such simple ambition was/is revolutionary–it’s what allowed such a massive country as China to be able to function as a society and a culture.

And then there’s the ambiguity–is he bathing, or is he sinking? He seems to be at rest, but the water-line is a little to high, we do not see his arms–is he stuck? And following this frame of thinking, how do old traditions fit into the modern world? Are we so full of pride that we think that beliefs that have existed for thousands of years through endless cycles of change are suddenly defunct just because we have computers and cars and advertising? Are these common things enough to unwind Confucius’s common-sense wisdom.

Perhaps this is why Confucius is smiling. He knows better than that. Yes the trappings of life may have changed, but humans are essentially the same as they always were, and the ways for a stable life have not altered one iota.